Hybrid energy harvester and portable device the same

Abstract

Disclosed are a hybrid energy harvester and a portable device including the same. The hybrid energy harvester according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a thermoelectric/piezoelectric element part that includes a thermoelectric element layer generating a voltage by a temperature difference, and a piezoelectric element layer generating a voltage by any one of vibration, pressure and force; an energy source selection part that selects a voltage generated in the thermoelectric element layer or the piezoelectric element layer; and a voltage controlling part that stores the voltage in an energy storage device by controlling the voltage selected in the energy source selection part.

1 . A hybrid energy harvester, comprising:
 a thermoelectric/piezoelectric element part that includes a thermoelectric element layer generating a voltage by a temperature difference, and a piezoelectric element layer generating a voltage by any one of vibration, pressure and force;   an energy source selection part that selects a voltage generated in the thermoelectric element layer or the piezoelectric element layer; and   a voltage controlling part that stores the voltage in an energy storage device by controlling the voltage selected in the energy source selection part.   
     
     
         2 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 1 , wherein the thermoelectric/piezoelectric element part further comprises:
 a protective layer that electrically insulates the thermoelectric/piezoelectric element part and protects the thermoelectric/piezoelectric element part from contamination and breakage;   a first insulation layer that electrically and thermally insulates the thermoelectric element layer and the piezoelectric element layer from each other; and   a second insulation layer that electrically insulates the thermoelectric/piezoelectric element part from a lower structure.   
     
     
         3 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 2 , wherein the protective layer includes at least one of transparent polycarbonate, PET (polyethylene-terephthalate), PES (polyethersulfone), PI (polyimide), polynorbonene, PEN (polyethylenenapthelate), AryLite, quartz, glass, silicon (Si), gallium arsenic (GaAs) and indium phosphorus (InP). 
     
     
         4 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 2 , wherein each of the first insulation layer and the second insulation layer includes at least one of transparent polycarbonate, PET (polyethylene-terephthalate), PES (polyethersulfone), PI (polyimide), polynorbonene, PEN (polyethylenenapthelate), AryLite, quartz, glass, silicon (Si), gallium arsenic (GaAs) and indium phosphorus (InP). 
     
     
         5 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 1 , wherein the thermoelectric element layer is configured by a single or plural thermoelectric elements. 
     
     
         6 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 5 , wherein in the case where the thermoelectric element layer is configured by a plurality of thermoelectric elements, the thermoelectric elements electrically connected in series or in parallel. 
     
     
         7 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 5 , wherein the single thermoelectric element includes a p-type semiconductor material and a n-type semiconductor material selected from silicon (Si), (Bi 2 (Te,Se) 3 , (Bi,Sb) 2 Te 3 , Zn 4 Sb 3 , (Pb,Sn)Te, Ca 3 CO 4 O 9 , (Zn,Al)O, (Ba,Sr)Pb, (ZnO)mIn 2 O 3 , SrTiO 3 , CaMnO 3 , (Li,Ni)O, NaxCO 2 O 4 , La(Mn,M)O 3  and LaFe 3 CoSb 12 , and the selected p-type semiconductor material and n-type semiconductor material are connected through an electrode. 
     
     
         8 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 7 , wherein the electrode includes at least one of metals, conducting metal oxides, and conducting polymers(silver, gold, platinum, copper, aluminum, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, palladium, In—Ga—Zn—O, SrRuO 3 , (La,Sr)CoO 3  and Sr(Nb,Ti)O 3 , polyacetylene, polyaniline, polypyrrole, polythiopene). 
     
     
         9 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric element layer is configured by a single or plural piezoelectric elements. 
     
     
         10 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 9 , wherein in the case where the piezoelectric element layer is configured by a plurality of piezoelectric elements, the piezoelectric elements electrically connected in series or in parallel. 
     
     
         11 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 9 , wherein the single piezoelectric element includes any one of quartz, Rochelle salt, (Na,Ca)(Mg,Fe) 3 B 3 Al 6 Si 6 (O,OH,F) 31 , GaPO 4 , Ca 3 Ga 2 Ge 4 O 14 , LiNbO 3 , LiTaO 3 , Li 2 B 4 O 7 , Li 2 SO 4 H 2 O, Bi 12 GeO 20 , Bi 12 SiO 20 , SbSI, aluminum nitride (AlN), zinc oxide (ZnO), PZT(Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 ), tungsten bronze, a Perovskite layer structure, BST((Ba,Sr)TiO 3 ), NkN((Na,K)NbO 3 ), bismuth titanate, carbon nanotube (CNT), polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) and polypropylene-polyethylene (PE-PP), and the electrode is formed at a left part and a right part or an upper part and a lower part of the material. 
     
     
         12 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 11 , wherein the electrode includes at least one of metals, conducting metal oxides, and conducting polymers(silver, gold, platinum, copper, aluminum, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, palladium, In—Ga—Zn—O, SrRuO 3 , (La,Sr)CoO 3  and Sr(Nb,Ti)O 3 , polyacetylene, polyaniline, polypyrrole, polythiopene). 
     
     
         13 . The hybrid energy harvester of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an electric wave rectification part that constantly maintains a voltage generated in the piezoelectric element layer.   
     
     
         14 . A portable device, comprising:
 a hybrid energy harvester including:   a thermoelectric/piezoelectric element part that includes a thermoelectric element layer generating a voltage by a temperature difference, and a piezoelectric element layer generating a voltage by any one of vibration, pressure and force;   an energy source selection part that selects the voltage generated in the thermoelectric element layer or the piezoelectric element layer; and   a voltage controlling part that stores the voltage in an energy storage device by controlling the voltage selected in the energy source selection part.   
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the thermoelectric/piezoelectric element part is inserted into a display device of the portable device. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the portable device is any one of a notebook, a cellular phone, an MP3 player, and a game machine.